The theme of Rory McIlroy bouncing back from major setbacks continued as he opening his Genesis Scottish Open campaign with a five-under 65 on his first competitive outing since falling agonisingly short at last month’s US Open.
A blistering run of birdie, par, chip in eagle, birdie briefly catapulted McIlroy to the summit at the Renaissance Club but as the afternoon wore on it was Justin Thomas who found himself on top of the tree on eight-under after a blistering 62 which could spark a timely return to form for the American.
“Sort of missed it in a good spot on 3 but sort of the nice thing about this course is even when you miss it on the short-side, it seems like you always have some sort of shot to get it close. And there I just needed to hit a little bump and let it pitch on the fringe and run down to the hole, and judged it nicely,” said McIlroy.
McIlroy ensured his return to competitive golf was worth the wait when he got up and down from the back of his opening hole, the par-5 10th for a birdie. Although he dropped a shot on the 11th he recovered with birdies on the 14th and 16th either side of a bogey on 15.
The Holywood man did pass up birdie opportunities inside ten feet on the fifth, sixth and ninth but it was a welcome return to form for the 35-year-old who will bid to put his Pinehurst demons behind him at Royal Troon’s 152nd Open Championship next week.
Despite the bitter disappointment of Pinehurst last month, McIlroy feels he picked up where he left off in terms of his overall performance.
“So my game has been feeling pretty good in practise over the last ten or so days since I picked the club back up. Obviously the last time I played, I played well. I didn’t get the result I wanted but I’ve still got a lot of confidence in my game.
“I went time-out there today, shot a solid score. A couple I would have liked to hole coming in and be a few shots lower but overall great start to the tournament. Yeah, I sort of picked up where I left off.”
Overnight leader Thomas has endured another mixed season to date but feels he was in control of his golf swing on Thursday.
“It was nice,” he said. “It’s always good to get off to a good start and even better to get off to a great one.
“I felt like I was in great control of everything. Just when I missed it, I missed it in the right spots and had a lot of really quality shots. On those four, five, six-footers to kind of make something out of them, I stole a couple with some long or mid-range putts.
“Like any golfer, I would have loved to finish those last five holes a little bit better but I played really, really solid today and that par putt on 17 was huge. I love going bogey-free so it was nice to – I would have had a different taste in my mouth walking off 18.
“This is as easy as I feel like you’re going to get a links golf course weather-wise and conditions.
“You drive it well like I did for the most part today, you have a lot of short clubs and I see nothing but the pin. You have opportunities to get the ball close with some slopes but if I have a good number for the most part I’m trying to figure out how I can hit it as close as possible. I’m not scared to do so.”
Meanwhile, Seamus Power’s chances of qualifying for next week’s Claret Jug date remain in the balance after he opened with a one-under 69 to lie alongside Tom McKibbin.
Pádraig Harrington is level-par after a round of 70.
